By Sean P. Ray | Managing Editor

More than 2,000 miles might separate the Northside from Hollywood, but it’s a distance Chimechi Oparanozie was able to cross to see his dreams come true.

A Northside native (he grew up in various Northside neighborhoods, but cites Manchester as his main one), Oparanozie recently had his big screen breakthrough acting in the film “Unstoppable,” which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September and will have its wider release in December. Oparanozie performed alongside several big name Hollywood stars for the film, including Jharrel Jerome, Jennifer Lopez, Michael Peña and Don Cheadle, and the film’s producers include heavy hitters Ben Affleck and Matt Damon.

“I almost shed a tear seeing it up there,” Oparanozie said of watching the film’s premiere.

Oparanozie lived on the Northside until 2016. Besides Manchester, he also grew up alongside North Charles Street and Perrysville Avenue. When he started looking at options for college, two very different life paths set themselves before him.

Check out the December issue for the complete story.